Why USC’s offense struggled in first loss at Stanford

A rare scoring opportunity emerged for USC in the third quarter of a 17-3 loss at Stanford on Saturday evening.

The Trojans were set up inside the red zone. On second down, quarterback JT Daniels threw a pass toward receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in the corner of the end zone. St. Brown, draped by a cornerback, leapt to corral the football, but as he landed onto the Stanford Stadium grass, his left heel straddled the end line. He was ruled out of bounds. There was no touchdown.

The sequence was a fitting snapshot of USC’s offense in a game in which it failed to reach the end zone on potential scoring drives.

On the play before St. Brown’s near-tip toe catch, running back Aca’Cedric Ware was hit at the line of scrimmage, before bouncing off the potential tackler to pick up 2 yards. To begin second down, receiver Michael Pittman drew a 5-yard penalty for illegal motion.

So when Daniels lofted the high-difficulty throw toward St. Brown, USC had been left in an inauspicious second-and-13. The incompletion only furthered to decrease their scoring chances, putting them in a third-and-long. The redzone trip ultimately ended with a field goal.

The offense has underwhelmed early in the season for a variety of factors, including the chemistry between a true freshman quarterback and his receivers, pass protection, poorly timed penalties, red-zone efficiency and stalled drives. USC piled it on late for a 43-21 win over UNLV in its season opener on Labor Day weekend, but many of the issues emerged in sharper focus against Stanford, its first significant test.

The three points were the fewest the Trojans had scored in a game since being shut out by Washington in 1997. They failed to score a touchdown for the first time since a thumping by Alabama in 2016. They gained 332 yards, their lowest since last September’s loss at Washington State.

“It was a collective non-execution,” Daniels said.

After the loss, USC’s players passed through a dimly lit hallway outside the visiting locker room at Stanford Stadium, where they expressed various feelings of frustration.

They had shown signs of life on offense, moving six times into opposing territory and seeing a third of their drives last for 40 or more yards, but they rarely left with anything to show for it.

“When we had the ball, we’d go 30, 50 yards, fall flat toward the end zone,” left guard Chris Brown said. “It’s just kind of frustrating because I knew we had it.”

Their six trips past midfield ended with two punts, along with a missed 53-yard field goal attempt and a fumble by Daniels as he took a sack on fourth down. Daniels was sacked four times.

Offensive coordinator Tee Martin frequently cited poor execution when asked about the struggles following the loss.

Coach Clay Helton said a day later that had the Trojans finished drives, “it’s a totally different ballgame.”

The Trojans have in particular been ailed by a poor redzone offense. They ranked 86th in the Football Bowl Subdivision last season with a touchdown percentage above 57 percent in the red zone. In this season’s opener, they scored three touchdowns over the six times they moved inside the 20-yard line. In two red-zone trips against Stanford, they managed one field goal. As they mounted a last-minute comeback attempt, Daniels was intercepted at the goal line, their second trip.

After throwing for 282 yards against UNLV, the most ever by a USC quarterback in a debut, along with a touchdown, Daniels ran into trouble in his second college game. He completed 16 of 34 passes for 215 yards and threw two interceptions.

“I didn’t do my part,” Daniels said.